Internal-combustion engine.



No. 746,342. PATBNTED DEC. 8,1903.

E. KURTING. INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.1. 1900.

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No.746,342. I PATENTED pE0.8,1903.'

E. KURTING.

INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE.

APPLIUATION FILED AUGNI, 1900. 7

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No. 746,342. PATBNTED DEG B, 1903.

. E. K6ET1NE. INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE.

APPLIUATION FILED AUG. 1, 1900. v

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PATENTED (DEC. 8, 1903.

E., KURTING; INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE.

APPLIOATION FILED AUG. 1, lboo.

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load on the engine varies.

UNITED STATES Patented December 8, 1903.

PATENT I OFFICE.

INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of- Letters Patent No. 746,342, dated December 8, 1903; 7

Application filed August 1, 1900. Serial No. 26,518. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, ERNST KoRTING, engineer, of Kdrtingsdorf, near Hanover, Prussia, German Empire, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in or Appertaining to Internal-Combustion Engines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in or appertaining to internal-combustion englues, in which the charge introduced into the cylinders by special devices at the end of the outward or at the beginning of the inward stroke sweeps away the residues of combustion of the preceding power-stroke. According to the presentinvention, the charge is, as it enters the cylinder, given a whirlingand rolling motion more or less at right angles to the axis of the cylinder, and this in such a manner that the charge is as far as practicable maintained in a coherent mass and is prevented from radiating and becoming mixed with the residues of the previous power-stroke. In such an engine it is, however, absolutely necessary that a layer or stratum of inert gas (air) should I be located between the still glowing residues of the previous explosion and the new charge, so that the latter does not ignite by contact with the said residues. vide special means whereby the quantity of the charge may be altered without affecting its localion and relation to the air and residues or altering its composition whenever the It is also desirable to provide a valve mechanism for the admission of the charge into the cylinder which acts at very short intervals of time and as noiselessly as possible, and finally a special device is requisite by means of which the combustible charge which in these engines varies in volume according to .the load is made to burn completely and with sufficient rapidity.

In order to impart a whirling motion to the new charge, which motion is necessary for separating the same from the residues of the previous power-stroke, the combustion-chamber is when the admission of the. charge takes place at the side curved and of trumpet shape, with the narrow end directed toward the head of the cylinder. On the concave side of the trumpet-shaped combustion-chamber It is also necessary to prois provided a baffle-plate, preferably in the form of a ring-sector. This baffle-plate is lo-' cated underneath and parallel to the face of the admission-valve, which is constructed as a spindle-valve. A part of the charge passing through the valve is deviated at right angle to the axis of the inlet-opening by the said baffle-plate, so that it impinges against the other part of thegas which is moving in the direction of the said axis, whereby the required whirling or rolling motion is obtained. If the introduction of the charge is effected at the end of the cylinder, I

these jets impinge against one anothemand against the walls of the cylinder the required whirling is also thereby obtained.

For bringing the necessary layer of inert gas (air) between the vresidues and the explosive charge I use two pumps which have equal strokes. One of these pumps delivers the air and the other supplies the'combustible gas, the ratio of the piston areas being equal, or nearly so, to that of the quantities of air 7 and gas to be admitted. The gas-pump is fitted with a devicerwhich is so contrived that the piston after having accomplished a certain portion of its instroke commences to compress the gas in the cylinder of the pump and continues the compression during the remaining portion of the instroke. The air-pump, on the contrary, compresses the air contained in its cylinder from the very be- 0 ginning of the instroke. The delayed compression of the gas in the gas-pump is offected either by throttling the gas-inlet during the suction-stroke of the pump-piston or by establishing during the required portion 5 of the stroke a communication between the suction and pressure chambers. The airpump therefore forces first air alone into the engine-cylinder, and as soon as the gas-pump v t 70 angles to the axis of the cylinder, and a all begins to cooperate both pumps force into too the said cylinder gas and air in the ratio of their piston areas, so that the mixture in the required proportions is formed at the entrance into the cylinder. Owing to the abovedescribed construction of the inlet this mixture is as far as practicable kept separated from the air that precedes it, while at the same time and for the same reason this air is as far as possible prevented from mixing with the residues of the previous powerstroke.

For obtaining a variable quantity of the gaseous mixture having a constant composition the governor is connected either with the aforementioned throttle-valve in such a manner that when the loaddecreases the gasinlet is throttled during the suction-stroke of the gas-pump or the governor is connected to the device, which establishes the communication between the suction and delivery chamber of the said pump in such a manner that when the load decreases the said communication remains open for a longer time.

The inlet-valve, which admits the air and gas into the engine-cylinder, is opened in a simple manner by a cam on the driving-shaft or on an auxiliary shaft, running at the same speed as the driving-shaft, acting through the medium of the lever arrangement on the said valve, while the closing is effected automatically through the action of a spring.

For securing a regular ignition of a charge which is at one time large and at another small a number of igniters is provided. One of these igniters is located in proximity to the inlet-valve, while the other is near the limit of the piston instroke.

In motors working with ahigh compression of the charge before its ignition it is of importance to cool the charge for avoiding the disadvantages arising both from a too-high compression andtemperature of combustion. In order to effect this cooling, the surface in the combustion-chamber is enlarged by providing the walls thereof with ribs or by disposing within the said combustion-chamber pockets through which a cooling medium is made to circulate.

The invention is best understood by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a longitudinal section of a double-acting gas-engine fitted with the hereinbefore-described improvements. This figure is diagrammatic as regards the parts of the engine which does not affect the invention. Fig. 1 is a plan view of the engine. Fig. 2 isa section of the arrangement of the inlet-valve and of the baffle-plate on the concave side of the trumpet shaped combustion chamber. Figs. 3 and 3 show the application of the disk valve to the cylinder of the said engine. Fig. 4 is a horizontal section of the air and gas pumps and operating mechanisms therefor, showing a modification of the means for controlling the relative time of the commencement of the compression of the gas in the gaspump. Fig. 4 is a detail of a part of such controlling mechanism, taken at right angles to Fig. 4:; Fig. 5,the inlet-valve movement.

In the drawings, a is the working cylinder of the gas-engine, b the piston, and c the piston-rod. d and d are the trumpet-shaped curved combustion-chambers provided at both ends of the cylinder and fitted with admission-valves e and e, which are pressed against their seats by springs. The periphery of the middle part of the cylinder is provided with a plurality of exhaust-ports s, that open into a passage connected to the exhaust-pipe. Underneath the valves e and e and on the concave side of the trumpet-surface are arranged baffle-plates Zand Z, Figs. 1 and 2, preferably having the shape of ring-sectors, and near the inlet-valves and the end of the cylinders, respectively, are the igniters tand if. The air is supplied to the valve-chamber by the air-pump n through pipes o and o and openings f and f, while the gas is delivered by gas-pump m through pipes 19 and p and openings 9 and g to said valve-chamber. r is the throttling-valve, disposed in the gassupply pipe and actuated by the governor.

The operation of the engine is as follows: As soon as the working piston b uncovers the ports 8 the burned charge escapes and the compressed contents of pipes 0 and 13 pass through the chamber above the valve e, in which the mingling of the gases takes place, and then enter the combustion chamber through the valve 2, that opens automatically. The action of the pumps is so regulated that their pistons are in or near the deadpoints of their inward stroke when the lam gine-piston covers again the ports son beginning its instroke. The whole of the compressed charge must therefore be delivered into the combustion-chamberduringthe short time the ports 3 remain uncovered and at the same time the products of combustion must be swept out of the cylinder. The piston of the gas-pump begins to discharge the gas into thepipe 29 only after a part of its instroke has already been achieved, whereas the piston of the air-pump discharges the air into the discharge-pipe 0 from the very beginning of its instroke. The inlet-valve e is still closed when the two pump-pistons commence the instroke, and since the dischargepipes of the two pumps are in communication with each other through the chamber of the said valve 6 part of the compressed air will enter through the said chamber into the pipe 19, pushing the gas in the pipe backward and simultaneously compressing it until the piston of the gas-pump also begins to discharge. From this moment the compression goes on in both at the same ratio, the pipe 19, however, remaining partly filled with pure air. When afterward the valve 6 is opened, both pipes 0' andpdischarge theircontentsthrough the valve 6 into the cylinder, and these contents are pure air to begin with until the pipe p is emptied so far that the pushed-back gas reaches the valve, whereupon gas and air together enter the cylinder after being well mixed with each other in the chamber of valve 6. As soon as both pump pistons reach the end of their stroke valve e'closes automatically under the action of its spring. The gases passing through valve e impinge partly against the baffle-plate Z and being thereby deviated from their original direction unite with the other part of the inrushing gas, and

so form a layer of'gas which rolls or whirls on itself as it advances. This body of gas, consisting first of astratum of pure air and then of a combustible gaseous mixture,sweeps the residues of the previous explosion through the aforesaid ports 8. The charge is then compressed by the instroke of the piston and ignited by the igniters t, of which at least one is located near the inlet and-one or more others near the limit of the piston. instrokep pression is effected by ribs 15, provided on the decomposition temperature of the gas.

internal Walls of the combustion-chamber, Fig; 2, by which ribs the refrigerating efiect of the cooling medium circulating around'the combustion-chamber is transmitted toward the center. The number of ribs and their de veloped area depend upon the degree of compression and the absolute size of the combustion-chamber and also upon the ignition or t e cooling-surface must be in proportion to the compression and temperature of ignition or decomposition of the mixture; The ribs may be made hollow, so as to form pockets through which the cooling medium circulates.

'lhegovernor acts, as already stated, on the throttling-valve'r, so as to decrease the free area for the passage of the gas as soon as the load on the engine decreases. By this means both the quantity of gas supplied by the gaspump and that of the combustible mixture are decreased.

In the modified construction shown in Figs.

3 and 3 the charge is introduced at the cylinder-head through a'plurality of valves e, arranged in a circle, whereby the described internal motion of the particles of the entering gasthat is to say, a whirling and revolving effect caused by the impingingof the annular gas-streams against one another-is also obtained. The operation is otherwise the same as that described with reference totwo-armed lever 3 4 of the valve mechanism is connected by means of the rod 2 and a twoarmedlever 1 to the pump piston-rod'r, which receives its reciprocating motion from a crank, and the lever 3 4 is also connected at a difieren't pointthereof to a reciprocating rod 7, which rod receives its reciprocating movement from asecond crank. The movement of the rod 7 is transmitted to the two-- armed lever 3 ibya lever 6, swinging around a fixed point 8 and provided with a slideblock 22, which is attached to a rod '5, connected with the two-armed lever 3 4, and

which rod 5 is also connected with the.gov-

ernor-rod 9. When the'block v'is near the point 8, around which the lever 6 swings, the motion of the lever has very little or no effect on the distributing-valves, and the valves are actuated by the piston-rod alone. In this position the communication between the suction and pressure space is kept open for a period of the stroke that corresponds to the minimum of power required from the engine. If now the block is moved to the other end of the lever 6, the reciprocating movement of thelever 6 exerts its-fullaction and the valves ing a smaller portion of the stroke of'the gaspump, so that the pump can then deliver the maximum quantity of gas. Each intermediate position of the block c rresponds to a different rate of admission [1 the pump. The rod 5, on which the slide block is arranged, is so connected'tothe governor that when the powertto be exerted issmall the block comes nearer the point around which the link oscillates, and vice ver'sa...

Fig. 5 represents .the mechanism l'or'con- I trolling the inlet-valve e. A cam '10, keyed on a shaft 14, which rotates with the same velocity as the driving-shaft, depresses'the lever 11 and through the medium ofrod 12 and leverl3 also the valve e, which is thereby opened. A spring located above'lever 13 and connected to the valve-stem returns the valve to its seat and the levers to their initial position as soon as the cam ceases to act on lever ll.

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is

1. In an internal-combustion engine, the

combination with a cylinder having an exhaust-port located at or near the point of the end of the power-stroke of the piston, of a combustion-chamber located at the end of the res IIO

cylinder from which the piston makes its power-stroke, an inlet-opening to the combustion-chamber, and means for imparting a whirling and rolling motion to the charge as it enters the combustion-chamber whereby the charge is caused-'to'a'dvance in a body end of the power-stroke of the piston, of a combustion-chamber located at the end of the cylinder from which the piston makes its power-stroke, an inlet-opening to the combustion-chamber, and a baffle-plate located to impart a whirling and rolling motion to the charge as it enters the combustion-chamber whereby the charge is caused to advance in a body through the combustion-chamber and the cylinder without difiusion with the other gas, substantially as described.

3. In an internal-combustion engine, the combination with a cylinder having an exhaust-port located at or near the point of the end of the power-stroke of/ the piston, of a trumpet-shaped combustion-chamber, an inlet-opening to the combustion-chamber, and a battle-plate on the concave side of the trumpet-shaped combustion-chamber for imparting a whirling and rolling motion to the charge as it enters the combustion-chamber whereby the charge is caused to advance in a body through the combustion-chamber and the cylinder without difiusion with other gas, substantially as described.

4. In an internal-combustion engine, the combination with a cylinder having an exhaust-port located at or near the point of the end of the power-stroke of the piston,ofa trumpet-shaped combustion-chamber, a mixingchamber, an inlet-passage leading from the mixing-chamber to the combustion-chamber, an admission-valve for controlling said passage, a pump for supplying airto the mixingchamber, a pump forsupplyinggas to the mixing-chamber,and a baffle-plate in the form of a ring sectoron the concave side of the trumpetshaped combustiou-chamber extending substantially in a plane perpendicular to the direction of movement of the charge into the combustion-chamber for imparting a whirling and rolling motion to' the charge as it enters the combustion -chamber whereby the charge is caused to advance in a body through the combustion-chamber and the cylinder without diffusion with other gas, substantially as described.

5. In an internal-combustion engine, the combination with a cylinder having an exhaust-port located at or near the point of the end of the power-stroke of the piston, of a combustion-chamber located at the end of the cylinder from which the piston makes its power-stroke, an inlet-opening to the combustion-chamber, means for introducing a charge of inert gas (as air) before the introduction of the charge of explosive gas for the purpose of separating'the explosive gas from the residues of the previous explosion, and means for imparting a whirling and rolling motion to the charges of inert gas and explosive gas as they enter the combustionchamber, whereby they are caused to advance bodily through the combustion-chamber and the cylinder without diffusion, substantially as described.

6. In an internal-combustion engine, the combination with a cylinder having an exhaust-port located at or near the point of the end of the power-stroke of the piston, of a combustion-chamber, a mixing-chamber communicating with the combustion-chamber, means for imparting a whirling and rolling motion to the charge as it enters the combustion-chamber, a pump for air, a pump for gas, and means for establishing communication between the suction-pipe and the pressure side of the cylinder of the gas-pump during a part of each compression-stroke of the pump-piston and closing during such time communication between the pump-cylinder and its discharge'pipe, substantially as described.

7. In an internal-combustion engine, the combination with a cylinder having an exhaust-port located at or near the point of the end of the power-stroke of the piston, of a combustion-chamber, a mixing-chain ber communicating with the combustion-chamber, a pump for air, a pump for gas, means for imparting a whirling and rolling motion to the charge as it enters the combustion-chamber, distribution-valves for the gas-pump actuated by the combined action of two crank movements, and means controlled by the governor for regulating the movement imparted to said valves for controlling the quantity of gas supplied to the combustion-chamber, substantially as described.

8. In an internal-combustion engine, the combination with a cylinder having an exhaust-port located at or near the point of the end ofthe power-stroke of the piston, of a trumpet-shaped combustion-chamber, an inlet-opening to the combustionchamber, a baffle-plate on the concave side of the combustion-chamber, and a plurality of igniters in the com bastion-chamber for securing regular ignition, substantially as described.

9. In an internal-combustion engine, the combination with a cylinder having an exhaust-port located at or near the point of the end of the power-stroke of the piston, of a trumpet-shaped combustion-chamber, an inlet-opening to the combustion-chamber, a baffle-plate on the concave side of the combastion-chamber, and a number of interior cooling ribs and pockets on the walls of the combustion -chamber, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ERNST KoRTING.

Witnesses:

F. A. BRYCE, L. RAsoH. 

